Baker McKenzie issued a November alert on recent updates to the United Kingdom's trade remedies regime, including the functions of its new Trade Remedies Authority and its potential implications for other World Trade Organization members. The regime is a “significant shift” for the U.K.’s national trade policy, the firm said, mostly because it can now impose its own remedies and directly challenge foreign tariffs separately from the European Union. The alert includes tips for companies making a trade remedy application in the U.K. and what evidence they will need to show.
The United Kingdom released its conclusions from the Sept. 16 meeting of the U.K.-South Korea Committee on Trade in Goods, detailing areas of progress from the first meeting under the U.K.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement. Both sides agreed that finalizing adoption of the Rules of Procedure for the Committee on Trade in Goods is a priority "once empowered to do so by a decision of the Trade Committee." Signed decisions will be exchanged shortly, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade said. The U.K. and South Korea agreed to share their notifications of the agreement to the World Trade Organization Regional Trade Agreement Committee and share methodological information on the development of data on preference utilization rates, DIT said. Also, the parties noted ongoing discussions on steel safeguards being conducted outside the committee, and the U.K. said it will provide updates on the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol as needed.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated its financial sanctions guidance for charities and other nongovernmental organizations. The new document provides resources for charities and NGOs, including basic steps for conducting due diligence when engaging in business abroad, what to do if financial sanctions are breached and how to apply for an OFSI license to skirt financial sanctions. The guidance also gives country- and sector-specific sanctions information including on Syria, Afghanistan and petroleum products.
A European Union official said that even once the bloc passes its Carbon Border Adjustment Measure, "that definitely doesn’t preclude joint work on international coordination" on preventing manufacturing from moving to countries that aren't as ambitious in fighting climate change.
The trial involving Danish fuel supply Dan-Bunkering and its parent company Bunker Holding kicked off on Oct. 26, EU Sanctions reported. Denmark in 2019 charged Dan-Bunkering with violating the European Union's Syrian sanctions regime by selling jet fuel to Syria. Between 2015 and 2017, around 172,000 tons of jet fuel were allegedly sold to Russian companies and shipped to Syria using intermediaries, EU Sanctions said.
The United Kingdom suspended Ghana, Jordan and Kenya from receiving preferential rates under its Generalised Scheme of Preferences for the month of December, the Department for International Trade said Oct. 29. The secretary of state for international trade said the suspensions are being implemented due to alternative trade arrangements with the three countries, and will apply if equivalent or better preferential market access than the GSP in confered in those arrangements.
The United Kingdom extended until Dec. 31, 2022, its tariff suspensions on a host of COVID-19-related medical response items, the Department for International Trade said. The U.K. initially imposed the tariff suspensions Jan. 1, and added suspensions for 14 COVID-19 vaccine components that will also expire on Dec. 31, 2022.
Exports from the European Union have been lifted by "effective implementation and enforcement of EU trade agreements and international trade rules," the European Commission said Oct. 27, touting over $6.3 billion in additions to EU exports since 2020. The number derives from the commission's first report on implementation and enforcement of its trade agreements that covers four areas: "(1) Making full use of the opportunities provided by EU trade agreements; (2) Supporting the uptake of trade agreements by small businesses; (3) Addressing trade barriers; (4) Enforcing trade commitments through dispute settlement."
Norwegian energy giant Equinor ASA is boosting its natural gas exports to help ease Europe's supply problems, decreasing oil production to do so, Equinor CEO Anders Opedal said, Bloomberg reported. Equinor has stopped the reinjection of gas that's been used to boost oil output at the company's Gina Krog field, opting to export the fuel instead, Opedal said in a Bloomberg TV interview. Equinor will also increase its gas production at other fields, including the Troll field. The move will give Europe an extra 8 million cubic meters of gas daily. Norway's total gas supply currently exceeds 320 million cubic meters a day, but Europe's gas inventories are at their lowest seasonal levels in nearly 10 years, Bloomberg said.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added one entry to its Libya sanctions regime in an Oct. 26 financial sanctions notice. Osama Al-Kuni Ibrahim was placed under an asset freeze and a travel ban for his role as de facto manager of the Al Nasr detention center, responsible directly or indirectly for violating international human rights law.